Jaslar, Eva (18th September 1945-Present)

She is a harpist born in Bytom, Poland, whose full name is Ewa Maria Jaslar-Walicka, to a family where her father was a pharmacist and college teacher who was secretary and latter president of the pharmaceutical trade union, before being imprisoned in Auschwitz during WWII. Her mother was a professor of psychology at the University of Silesia in Katowice and Cieszyn. Her brother Krzysztof Jaslar is a film and theatre director, comedian ad writer and her nephew, Filip Jaslar is a violinist who is a founding member of Grupa MoCarta.

She began studying the piano when she was 6 years old but later changed to the harp. She studied at the Warsaw Academy of Music from 1964 to 1968 and after her studies was the winner of a national Polish harp competition that had been organised by the harpist Astrid von Wurtzler, who she co-founded the New York Harp Ensemble with i 1970.

The ensemble went on to perform throughout the world, sixty different countries, for the next 17 years and make many recordings. They also played for three US Presidents in the White House and at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II.

She began studying at New York University in 1971 and was the winner of the second place at the 5th American Harp Competition in 1972 and in 1973 represented America at the Israel International Harp Competition. A year later in 1974 she earned a Master’s degree in harpsichord before continuing her studies for a PhD.

As a soloist she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in 1978 before pursuing her solo career. During this time she gave performances with ensembles in the New York area that include the New York Harp Duo and the Slavic Chamber Ensemble.

She returned to Poland in 1990 and settled back in Cieszyn and became a harpist with the Czech State Opera for two years.

Recordings she her performed on include American Cavalcade Music for Harp Ensemble, Romantic Music for Harp Ensemble and Solo Harp, XVIIIth Century Music for Harp Ensemble, Music Memories Volume 1 and Contemporary Music for Harp Ensemble by the New York Harp Ensemble.

She has been a collaborator in several television and audio recordings and the Hungarian electronic pop band Passad made a portrait about her in 2018.

In the field of musical education she became a teacher in Bielsko-Biala followed by Cieszyn. She founded the Polish Harp Association which holds an harp duo competition and its students give the biannual concerts Welcoming the New Year with the Harp (Nowy Rok z Harfa) and Live the Vacation! (Vive les Vacances).

Sources:

Jaslar, Eva (18th September 1945-Present)

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